Breed Tag!

Ha roo, everypup! It's me, Stormy! I thought of something while I was out playing in the yard the other day. No... no, it wasn't about retrieving the toy Mom had just thrown - puh-lease!

I was thinking about how fun it is to be a Siberian Husky - we're independent, we're smart, we love to run, we're stubborn - it's really a blast. It made me think, though... and I turned my thoughts into a cool tag game! Here it is:

Based on your pup-onality, if you were a breed other than the one or ones you are now ... what would you be? I'll go first!

I would be a Border Collie. When we lived on Fort Riley, I always went into stalking mode when we got close to where the horses in the Commanding General's Mounted Color Guard were stabled. I transformed my entire being into a focused, serious pup with a gaze zeroed in on nothing except for those horses! Also, Border Collies are highly intelligent, have an "uncanny ability to reason", and have a great work ethic. They have a highly developed bond with people, as well. I'm not sure about the whole "doing what the bipeds tell you to do" thing, but I do love working with them!

The rules of the tag game are:
1. Copy the question above and paste it into your post.
2. Answer it - and give a few reasons for why you think you'd be that breed or breeds.
3. Post these rules!
4. Tag ONE other blogger. If there are multiple pups within the same pack/blog, each pup should only respond when he or she is tagged. One at a time!
5. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!

I'm going to tag fellow Siberian Frankie! I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Tail wags,
Storms

Comments of the Week

...or a couple weeks.

Ha roo, readers! Storms here. A couple weeks ago, we decided to start a new feature called "Comment of the Week". It seemed like a really good idea at the time... but as our pal Ari said, "That's great! But now we feel commenting stage fright: we'll have to try to think of something clever to say later this week!!" Oh, no! We were afraid of that!

In re-thinking this whole thing, perhaps it's more of a chance for us to respond to questions posed by our readers, or to give more info on something! Does that take any heat off? We're all about lowering the heat - ha roo roo roo! We'll try to come up with another name for this feature!

We also want to assure you that we will still do Sunday Salutes! Ruby was very sweet and said, "Wow...what a great idea! Comments always make me laugh!!! I hope Sunday Salute doesn't go away furever tho'...I always enjoy reading them!" Thank you, Ruby! And fear not! We love doing Sunday Salutes and will keep that feature!

On Zim's post of More Out-Takes, Holly left a great comment! She said, "Love the outtakes!!! Hey Ammy, what's up with the Malamute ears? Haroorooroo!!!" Ah, yes. Our little Ammy and her sweet ears! They are darling, aren't they? And very Malamute-like! Her bio-daddy had ears like that, as did her Uncle Mal (a Sibe-Mal mix). You can see pictures of both of them at this post. Even though Ammy came with papers... well, let's just say she's much taller than breed standard and it seemed like Uncle Mal was mighty sad to see her go! :)

Another of Zim's posts brought on a great comment by Steve. Zim told everypup about his trip to Starbuck's. He had a great time; he's been wanting to go there forever! Steve asked a very insightful question in his post script. He wondered, "...How's Dave? Did he survive being separated from your mom?" Well, Steve, it was pretty rough for the Deeve. The lad is mighty Mom-centered, as you know. Mom and Zim were gone an entire 25-30 minutes, which was 25-30 minutes too long for him. Here he is from yesterday:

Yes, that's Mom's foot. Sigh. He'll be OK soon.

Before I sign off for the day, I also wanted to show you how our little birdie-pups are growing! Look at how adult they look already!

Tweet?

Aren't they lovely?!! The parents are doing a splendid job with them!

Thanks for reading, everypup and kitty! And please keep those comments coming!

Tail wags,
Storms

Swords of the "Steps"?

Hi everypuppy! It's me ... Ammy, and I'm just a LITTLE bit confused today! Remember a while back when Zim showed you a new book our dad was reading? It was called "Wolf of the Steppes" and Zim was just sure it was about him! Hee hee hee! I thought that was so funny - I laughed a long time over that one!

So I was really confused when I saw the fourth book in the series! Look at this:

Very puzzling!
Swords of the Steps?!!? The steps!??! I don't think that's right. I've seen swords somewhere, but I don't think they're on our steps. Oh, wait a minute.

Here's one!

There. I knew I'd seen one SOMEwhere!

I'm pretty sure the book should be called "Swords of the Library". I don't know what that author was thinking! Hee hee hee.

Love,
Ammy

Riding The storm Out

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Ammy! For some good background music to this post, please open this link in a new tab or window. :)

Yesterday afternoon, we had this roll in:

Before it hit, Mom took us all out for a quick potty trip to the front yard. We saw a member of the Robin family out gathering food for the Robin puppies.

Both Mama and Dad Robin bring tweets home for the little ones and are really protective of them. There was a lot of wind with the storm that blew in, so when the worst of it was past us, our mom and dad went out to check on the babies. Mom shot this video; you have to look closely, but you can see Mama in there, hunkered down over the Robin pups!

The Robins are VERY good parents, aren't they? After they rode the storm out, the little Robins were hungry, so they went out to get more squirmy-wormies for them. Here are the babies!

Tweets!?!? Tweets?!?! Tweets!?!?

They were VERY hungry!

Love,
Ammy

PS: Our most sincere condolences to our very dear friend Tubey and his family. Their human made a very difficult decision last night and released Niki from her earthly body. Niki runs healthy and free now, and has no doubt has had a happy reunion with her former owner. God's blessings on them ALL.

Want To Go For a Ride?!?

Ha roo, pups and cool cats! It's me - Zim! I had a BLAST yesterday and just have to tell you about it. Before I get started, though, I'd like to encourage you to visit our friend Kelsey Ann's blog. She and her family and the WONDERFUL people of the MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue are taking in a very special puppy. His name is Biloxi and he has some special needs! Please surf on over to hear all about it! They are on an awesome mission!

So anyway... my excitement yesterday started when Mom said, "Hey Zimmie! Want to go for a ride?" I LOVE car rides, so I came running right away! She slipped my cool seat belt-harness thingy on me and we hit the road!

Here I am, down on Beagle Boulevard. It's not really called that, but two Beagles used to live there, so that's what I call it. Ha roo roo!

Hey, Mom. Where are we going?

Mom said we were going somewhere I'd really like. I thought she meant the Vet School, but she said no, it was some place I've always wanted to go but had never visited! How exciting!

We went past campus and into our downtown area. Where on earth could we be going?!?! Then Mom took a turn and I saw the sign. I couldn't believe it!

Great Balto! I can't believe it!

I was stunned. It was like a dream come true for me! Check out what I saw!!!

STARBUCK'S!!!!!!!!!!! It was beyond cool! Mom placed an order, then we pulled up to the window. That's when it got even better. The nice college girl working the window just "oohed" and "ahhed" over me. Her co-worker came over and they just went on and on about how handsome I am and ... well, you know. All those cool things a Sibe loves to hear! THEN one of them asked if I'd like a treat. WOWZERS! "Sure, Starbuck's babe! I'll take a coffee frappuccino light blended coffee like Mom ordered!" Only she had something else in mind - a VERY tasty dog cookie!

Not a bad substitute! Both of the girls complimented me on my manners and Mom said we'd come back again soon. Oh, WOWZERS! I hope she means today! Ha roo roo roo!

I asked Mom for just a little sip of her drink; sadly, all she let me do was lick the condensation off the bottom of the glass.

Mmmmm.....! Starbuck's!

I could smell the coffee, though. Mmm.... coffee!

What a great adventure! I wish all of you could have been there!

Play bows,
Zim

More Out-Takes

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zimmie! Remember we mentioned there were some out-takes from our Father's Day picture? Storm shared a couple good ones yesterday - ha roo roo roo! She just cracks me up! I learn something from her every single day!

Anyroo, she said I could share a few more with you. Here's one that could have been good, with some rotating.

And maybe if Dave had been looking at the camera. Ha roo! Oh... and if I was actually sitting like Mom suggested.

Then Dave DID look at Mom... and I sat down...

Hey... what's over there?

...so Storm looked away. Ha roo roo roo!

Dave started wooing at that point, so I decided to go see what was going on in the living room. Hey, Mom got a nice shot of the girls out of it!

Are we in trouble, Stormy? Should I start pinning my ears back?

Storm thought Ammy was getting worried and that we should end the photo shoot. As Supreme Commander of the Ao4, she called us into formation, (that's when Mom quickly shot the Father's Day photo!) then dismissed us.

Enough photos, Mom. Ao4... dis-MISSED!

Ha! And you all thought I was the instigator in the family!

I was going to show you the pix of our formation breaking up, but Blogger won't let us upload any more photos. We'll get them posted eventually.

Play bows,
Zim

Daily Blogger Award!

Tail wags! It's me - Stormy! Our dear friend Eva presented us with an award! It's the Daily Blogger Award!

We sincerely appreciate this; we do blog every day and even though there are four of us, it's sometimes hard to come up with things to say! Ha roo roo roo!

Eva said that we are the ones who inspired them to start their blog! That touched each one of us here at Ao4 HQs and made us feel so good! Thank you for the award, Eva, and thank you for sharing that!

We'd like to present the award to a relative newcomer to the blogosphere. Someone whose blog we enjoy a great deal and who we'd like to see continue blogging for a long, long time. We'd like to present the award to Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat and Honorary Husky! Congrats and meows, Huffle!

In celebration of our award, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite out-takes from our Father's Day photo shoot with you. Here I am (with Dave in the background) doing my one of my favorite things. The old Looking Up in the Air trick.

Hey! What's that up there?

Made you look!

She always falls for that one. Ha roo roo roo!

Thanks again, Eva! And congrats to our kit-cat pal Huffle!

Tail wags,
Storms

The Cat Pack!

Ha roo, every pup and kit-cat! It's me - Zim! Did you see the cool new logo in our sidebar? We're in the Cat Pack!

That's right, my bestest kit-cat pal Huffle Mawson said Storm, Amber, Dave and I could join her very cool Cat Pack! Yeah, it's kind of like the Rat Pack from back in the 50s and 60s -- you know, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. They were the ultimate cool cats!

Don't you love the logo Huffle designed? Stormy said that's what I'd look like if I was a kit-cat. Ha roo! Check it out:

Me - a Cat Pack member.

Can you see it? Maybe instead of sipping martinis or other cocktails, we could have cappuccinos or lattes or something!

Yeah, baby!

Thanks, Huffle! We feel honored to be in the Cat Pack. We've got your six whenever you need us!

I'm off to watch some videos.

Play bows,
Zim

Sunday Salute - Dads!

To celebrate Father's Day today, our Sunday Salute goes out to all dads!

First and foremost, we salute our own dad! Dave wrote a really cool Haik-woo about him that he posted last year; it's worth checking out! We tasked Mom to take a new picture of us last night, so we could make this cool card.

We love you, Dad!

(Note to readers: We'll share some of the out-takes with you later on. Ha roo roo roo!)

We'd also like to salute a new dad in our neighborhood! In fact, just last night, someone tried to invade his home while he and his wife were out getting a bite to eat! We saw the dad fight off the intruder, then he and his wife just FLEW into the home to make sure the kids were OK! What a great, brave dad! We don't have a picture of him ... but here are a couple shots of his little ones!

Tweet?

Mama? Dad?

That's right - Mama and Dad Robin have had their babies! What a cool Father's Day this is for them! We'll help keep an eye on them, and will chase off that other bird if we see him come back! We think it was a European Starling, but don't quote us on that!

Here's a shot of us with our dad from last week. We LOVE having coffee out on the deck with him in the mornings!

Dad's got coffee! Swarm, swarm, swarm!

Happy Dad's Day, Dad! We love you! And we salute all dads out there for all they do!

The Army of Four

The New ... Brush

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Amber. Long-time readers of the Ao4 Digest may know that I have fairly strong felines ... um, I mean feelings about brushes. Newer readers can get caught up by reading the very short post at this link. Yes, brushes are evil sums it up quite succinctly!

When I discovered our new package contained a brush for us, obviously I was less than thrilled! Mom assured me it was a very nice brush and it was anti-static so it would be better for my highly-charged coat, and that it was supposed to be very gentle and it would help my coat and my skin and ... well, I'm sure you've heard your bipeds say tons of things like that, too!

Mom took me out front and said, "Let's give it a go, Ammy!"

No. Brushes are evil!

But then, she gave me some cookies ... and I saw Oswald across the street ... and before I knew it, Mom was brushing me. And I didn't hate it!

Here are two pictures of me and Davy, after Mom brushed both of us.

Do I look smaller? You wouldn't believe all the fur that came out of me! Dave looks wonderful, doesn't he?

OK, I have to admit... it did kind of feel good. I'm glad that's over and done with! You only have to get brushed once, and you're done, right?

Hee hee hee!

Just kidding. But I had to try. Even though it's not evil.

Love,
Ammy

The Infamous Next Package

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim! Many, many thanks to all of you for the good wishes and concern after the tornado night before last. We really appreciate it and ask that you keep those who suffered loss in your prayers.

Remember last week when Ammy was a tad disappointed about the lack of something for us Sibes in the box that was delivered? Right - the one marked "Fat Cat". Then she said maybe the next package will have something for us. Well, you know that old adage about "Be careful what you wish for"? Yeah. Guess what was in the very next box? A new brush to use on us! Yikes!

But you know... our friends at D'Azul Siberians recommended it, so I thought I'd let Mom try it out on me. It's really kind of nice! I even held relatively still for a brushing session, and I'm usually a little squirmy. OK, I'm a LOT squirmy! But this brush is nice!

Here's a picture of Stormy (on the left) and me after Mom used it on us.

We look incredibly cool, don't we?

Ammy will give you her take on it tomorrow.

Play bows,
Zim

A Word From the Supreme Commander, Ao4

Tail wags, dear readers. Stormy here, Supreme Commander of the Ao4. Before I get started with today's post, I'd like to let you know that we are all counting our blessings this morning. We had a very powerful tornado rip right through our town last night. The tornado's path brought it about a mile from our house. We are all safe, but our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been hit by this terrible storm. For a fuller run-down, please check out the story on WIBW-Topeka's web page. They also have some remarkable viewer-contributed photos.

Not only are we in the Ao4 and our bipeds safe, but so is Mama Robin. I sent Zim out to check on her earlier:

Let's go check the tree for Mama Robin, Mom!

Tweet!

She needs a tweet after that storm! It's like our pal Heidi said on my Saturday post, "Boy that wasn't the first time mamma Robin built a nest..." She really does know construction, doesn't she? And seemed to be doing just fine!

OK, so as my Zimmie pup said yesterday, I feel the need to address the issue of cats. I've had cats as personal - err... canine/feline-al friends and just love them! I've taught Zim to also love cats, and I also suspect that he had kitty friends in his past. He emits some sort of vibes that cats find very attractive, and several in the neighborhood now come running when they see him! I'm very proud of him.

Ammy and Dave talk a good game about cats and what they think they might do to them, but rest assured, friends, there will be NO harming of ANY kitties on my watch! No way, no how! I forbid it, and my pack knows it. Besides, take Dave, for instance...

We used to have two lovely kitties who lived next door, Grey Kitty I (Luke) and Grey Kitty II (Lily). They moved to Maryland, unfortunately, but they were a delight to have in the neighborhood. They were indoor kitties, but would go outside with their bipeds. Mom used to take care of them when their bipeds went out of town. Here are a couple pictures of them! Here's Luke giving Mom a shoe shine:

Grey Kitty I

Nice of him to shine up those New Balance, don't you think? And here is Lily:

Grey Kitty II

Aren't they both sweet looking? I would always give them slow tail wags when I saw them and taught Zim to be calm whenever they were around. Sure, he stared, but that's all. Absolutely no malice in my boy-puppy's heart. As for Dave, tell me what you think after seeing this picture:

Is Grey Kitty OK? His feety-feet aren't cold, are they?

Yeah. Mr. Tough Guy. And Ammy, our little peace-maker, is the same way - believe me. She grew up on a farm with cats, so even though she teases with some of her rhetoric, I think it's an image thing. She would never hurt one. No way.

So please, my feline friends - fear not! We are cat-friendly!

Tail wags and "Mrrrow, meow, me-yow!",
Storms

PS: I can't belive I'm going to write this ..... but Ammy asked me to please add she hopes there are no "hard felines" over this. *eye roll*

Flower Show

Ha roo, pups! It's me - the Z-man! Mom finally put a few plants in the mailbox planter out front and Storm said I should let you have a look.

Hey, I can barely reach these!

There are a few Marguerite Sweet Potato Vines (those will fill in and get really huge like last year!), a dark purple spikey thing, and some other dark purple things with red flames on top of them! Mom said they're called Celosia Smart Look Red! I like that "Smart Look Red" part! Ha roo!

Here's a better look at the spikey thing. I forget what it's called.

I was looking over at the Peonies. They got pounded pretty badly by the hail and rain and wind, but they're still OK. Here I am, checking them out:

Here's a close up of one of the flowers.

Stormy thought they looked pretty, too, and came over to give them a sniff.

These are nice, Zim! Check them out!

I was one step ahead of her for once.

Oh, yeah, Storm. DEEE-licious!

Mom made me leave them alone after just ONE little nibble. Honestly, I'm JUST trying to enjoy the garden!

After Storm and I toured the front garden a bit, we had a little tête-a-tête about kitty-cats. We'll share that with you tomorrow; we hope our feline friends will tune in!

Play bows,
Zim

Raining Cats and Dogs!

Hi everypuppy! It's me, Amber! We've been getting just a ton of rain lately! Have you heard that old expression - "It's raining cats and dogs"? LOOK!

I got one!

Nabbed him right out of the sky! Must be raining just cats here, though, I didn't see any dogs flying through the air. Hee hee hee!

Love,
Ammy

Trail Mix Crunch

Woo, everypup. It's me, Dave. One of Mom's favorite cereals these days is Trail Mix Crunch made by the Grape Nuts/Post people. I've never gotten to taste it, unfortunately, but I sure do like the advertising for it!

Yeah. This is a cereal I can really get behind!

Luv,
Dave

Sunday Salute/Comment of the Week

Tail wags, all, it's me, Stormy. Welcome to a new feature here at the Ao4 Digest. In lieu of a Sunday Salute, we're going to feature a "Comment of the Week". We will shine the spotlight on a comment you, the reader, have left on our blog that has especially tickled us, touched us, or provoked deep thought! We really enjoy and appreciate all comments you leave us and would like to highlight some of them! It's not easy to single out one comment, but sometimes we are just so delighted by your remarks, we want to re-post them for all our readers to see!

The comment that sparked this idea was actually left about a week and a half ago. Remember Dave's post about his bone? Yeah... he was convinced someone had taken his bone. You know - the one on the step right under his paw. Ha roo roo roo! Our dear friend Kelsey Ann of the Kapp Pack left Dave this comment:

"Hmmm....is your undercoat blonde??? I'm just sayin'...Woo woo, KA"

Kelsey Ann, not only did you just bust me up with that (and Mom, too!) but ... I think you could be on to something! Ha roo roo roo! Great comment!

This week's Comment of the Week was made by Tucker. On our Sunday Salute to Thunder, who clearly was NOT digging in his mom's garden, Tucker brought up several points to prove Thunder's innocence. We just loved his third:

"...What did he do, wear gardening gloves? If the paw isn't dirty, He's sittin' purty."

Ha roo roo roo! Very clever, Tucker, and oh, so true!

Thank you to ALL of you who read and who leave comments. Truly these Sunday Salute/Comment of the Week posts are all about you and how much we appreciate you!

Tail wags,

Storms

The Calm After the storms

Tail wags, pups and kit-cat friends. It's me - Storm. The capital "S" Storm. We've had quite the small "s" storm packed week! Now that we have a lull in the action, this is how I am spending most of my time:

I'll try not to over-do!

Tail wags,
Storms

PS: Mama Robin built quite the wind-proof, hail-proof nest! So in case you were worried about her, fear not - she's doing very well. Here's a picture of her from this morning:

Tweet!

I think she could do with some calmer weather, too!

Tornado Sirens

Ha roo, pups! It's me - Zim! Yesterday we had quite a bit of excitement throughout the afternoon, evening and night! Lots of severe storms in our area - rain, more rain, torrential rain, thunder, lightning, 70-80 mile an hour winds, etc.. Mom saw some cool mammatus clouds form up ... then we went from a tornado watch to a warning. Our city's emergency warning sirens went off a paw-ful of times throughout the evening.

During one of the warning periods, Mom went out on the deck; she shot a short video to show you what it was like. She went out during one of the calm times - we went from high, high winds to ... pretty much nothing. Mom and Dad were tracking the small 's' storms on radar, so she had a fairly good idea where the really bad stuff was and wasn't taking a huge risk. It's dark out there, should be daylight, plus everything was rain-wrapped, so it was hard even for the trained storm spotters to see anything!

Like I said, it was a calm period, so it doesn't look like much, but we thought we'd share it with you anyway.

You might be wondering how we coped with everything. All things considered, we did very well. I knew it was going to be a long night, and that I'd need to keep my energy up. Here I am during another siren blast.

That's right - helping Dad with his cappuccino! Ha roo! Oh, sure, all I got was a little foam, but it was enough to charge me right back up! I needed to stay alert!

Play bows and safe wishes for everypup!
Zim

Interesting Box!

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Mom received a REALLY interesting box the other day! She said she had ordered some new things and said something about this box having items "especially for the Ram-a-Lamb". The "Ram-a-Lamb"? That's ME! Oh, I was so excited! Then when I saw the box, I got even MORE excited!

"Fat Cat, Inc."!?!?!

I just couldn't believe it! There seemed to be an air hole, too.

I stuck my snooter in it, but I couldn't smell ANY cats at all. Fat ones OR skinny ones!

Snuffle, snuffle, snuffle...

Apparently, it was from a pet supply place and there is a brand of things called "Fat Cat, Inc." - that's where Big Mean Kitty came from - and the pet supply place just used a Fat Cat, Inc. box to ship Mom's things in. Sigh. When she said the things were for the Ram-a-Lamb, she meant THE BAG she named the Ram-a-Lamb, not me. Hrmph!

Maybe the next box we get will have something nice for me and the rest of the pack!

Love,
The Ram-a-Lamb (You know which one!)